THE NIGHT IN THE NBA

I will attempt to do this nightly. It will be a quick run down of my thoughts on the night in the NBA.

Dallas over Phoenix in 2 OT --- The line-up Phoenix played down the stretch was amazing. They had Nash, Raja Bell, James Jones, another small and Shawn Marion as the center …… The Suns blew a 17 point lead and a 5 point lead in the first overtime …. They visibly lacked Joe Johnson, Q. Richardson and Stoudamire ….. I do think Raja Bell will have an enormous year playing with Nash …. Avery Johnson coached a brilliant game. He kept his team in the game with a great timeout late in OT. He has a great understanding of the value of a possession ….. Dallas is totally dependent on Dirk and Jason Terry. Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels and Keith Van Horn don’t seem to be giving enough support …. I have never been a Jason Terry fan, but he is really developing into a dynamic force.

Milwaukee over Philly in OT ---- I like Milwaukee. They are in the best division in the East. Don’t be surprised if all 5 teams in the Central make the playoffs …. The big news here is TJ Ford played and played well. Look at his line 16 pts, 9 rebounds and 14 assists. If he is right they become tough ….. 1st pick of the draft Andrew Bogut had a nice debut 13 pts and 9 rebs on 6 of 9 shooting. On draft day when I was asked who he reminded me of I said Tim Duncan. Bogut may never be that great, but he is the closest we have seen since Duncan came into the league ….. Did you see Chris Weber, 45 minutes and only 4 free throws … 28 shots and 32 points. He is so inefficient. You can’t win with the value of a possession.

N0/OKC blows out Sacramento --- Is this the Sonics debut of last season? Sacramento may have serious issues, but it is way to early to call them dead. The shooting percentage jumps out as a team that doesn’t jell. I wonder if they can run the Princeton offense with the personnel they added.

San Antonio shows supremacy over Denver --- the story is the injury to Nene. The Nuggets are calling it a sprained ACL. How do you think Earl Watson is feeling? He signed with Denver after not being able to find a starting job. Now he is not even getting any playing time. He did not play tonight. Denver did not hit a three tonight. That is partially SA defense, but this team still doesn’t have adequate outside shooting. ….. The Spurs got 16 points in 28 minutes from Michael Finley off the bench. 11 of those were in the 4th quarter. How awesome is that for the world champions ….. The Spurs got 41 bench points.